Caseyan
The Caseyan Language (Caseyan: Кăзèйски езыкэнзy, [kɐˈzɛjski jɛzɨkənzu], English transcription: Kazeysky yezykenzu, scientific transliteration: Kăzèjski jezykənzu) is a constructed language spoken in eastern Antarctica — most notably Casey where it was also first observed in. It is one of the first known indigenous Antarctican languages and has official status in Casey. It's a mostly religious and poetic language. The language's vocabulary is largely derived from a plethora of languages such as Russian, Icelandic, German, Toki Pona, Ukrainian and Italian. It is written in the Caseyan alphabet.
Alphabet
Caseyan Alphabet | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
А а | Ă ă | Б б | Ц ц | Д д | Ð ð | Е е | È è |
Э э | Ф ф | Г г | Х х | И и | Й й | К к | Λ λ |
М м | Н н | О о | Ō ō | Ö ö | П п | Р р | С с |
Ç ç | З з | Т т | Y y | Ÿ ÿ | В в | Ы ы | Ш ш |
Caseyan is written in Caseyan alphabet (csyn. аλфавитэнзy кăзèйски alfavítənzu kăzèjski), a derivative from the Cyrillic, Latin and Greek scripts.
Since the last spelling reform in March 2022, the Caseyan alphabet consists of 32 letters, where 12 represent vowels — а, ă, е, è, э, и, о, ō, ö, y, ÿ, ы — and the remaining 20 represent consonants.
Phonology
Overview
Grapheme | IPA | Pronounciation in English |
---|---|---|
А а | [a] | Like the "a" in bath when you sound posh. |
Ă ă | [ɐ] | Approximately like the "u" in nut (received pronounciation). |
Б б | [b] | Like the "b" in bottle. |
Ц ц | [t͡s] | Like the "ts" in cats. |
Д д | [d], [ɖ] | First variant: Like the "d" in dad; second variant: No English equivalent |
Ð ð | [ð] | Like the "th" in that. |
Е е | [e] | Approximately like the "é" in café. |
È è | [ε] | Like the "e" in bed. |
Э э | [ə] | Like the "a" in about. |
Ф ф | [f] | Like the "f" in friggin. |
Г г | [g] | Like the "g" in get. |
Х х | [x] | Like the "ch" in Scottish Loch. |
И и | [i] | Like the "ea" in heat. |
Й й | [j] | Like the "y" in yankee. |
Λ λ | [l] | Like the "l" in letter (received pronounciation). |
М м | [m] | Like the "m" in mother. |
Н н | [n] | Like the "n" in no. |
О о | [ɔ] | Approximately like the word awe. |
Ō ō | [o] | Approximately like the "o" in or (received pronounciation). |
Ö ö | [ø], [œ] | Like an exaggerated "ea" in British heard. |
П п | [pʰ] | Like the "p" in people. |
Р р | [r] | The "rolled"/trilled "r". |
С с | [s] | Like the "sc" in scissors. |
Ç ç | [θ] | Like the "th" in thing. |
З з | [z] | Like the "z" in hazy. |
Т т | [tʰ], [ʈ] | First variant: Like the "t" in time; second variant: No English equivalent. |
Y y | [u] | Approximately like the "u" in rude. |
Ÿ ÿ | [y] | No English equivalent — like the "ü" in German Güte. |
В в | [v] | Like the "v" in vase. |
Ы ы | [ɨ] | No English equivalent — somewhat like the "ÿ" from previously. |
Ш ш | [ʃ] | Like the "sh" in shade. |
Example Text
Caseyan: |
IPA: |
Translation: | |
Мистер Тшèков тōрте! - Скèнэнзy поλностевйе, Кăпитан. |
Mistɛr t͡ʃɛkɔv tɔrtɛ Skɛnənzu pɔlnɔstjɛvjɛ kɐpitan. |
Mister Chekov, report! - Complete scan, Captain. | |
(Дшèрōм Биксбы, вèдиăкλyп: Стар Трèк СО (1968ÿг г.) С3Ф7) (Jerome Bixby, wediaklup: Star Trek TOS (1968) S3E7) |
Vowels
Vowels | front | central | back | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | rounded | |
Close | и /i/ | ÿ /y/ | ы /ɨ/ | y /u/ | ||
Near-close | ||||||
Close-mid | е /e/ | ö /ø/ | ō /o/ | |||
Mid | э /ə/ | |||||
Open-mid | è /ε/ | ö /œ/ | о /ɔ/ | |||
Near-open | ă /ɐ/ | |||||
Open | а /a/ |
Diphthongs
In Caseyan, there are multiple diphthongs involving <и> and a following "second" vowel. In these diphthongs the /i/ from <и> becomes a /j/; this can be done with any vowel except /ɨ/. Some other diphthongs can include <а> or <ă> and <э> (schwa), in which case the first vowel gets shortened (e.g. аэ: [aə] → [a̯ə]). This is not allowed transsyllabically, should this encounter happen between two syllables, a glottal stop [ʔ] is inserted, c.f. нароçăэнзy [na.ˈrɔː.ˌθɐ.ʔən.zu] (the people). If /ɐ/ and /ə/ are next to each other, the sound gets reduced to /ə/.
Diphthong | Example | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grapheme | Phonemically | Phonetically | IPA | Orthography | Translation |
аэ | [aə] | [a̯ə] | [rada̯ənənzu] | радаэнэнзy | radar |
ăэ | [ɐə] | [ə] | [ɛpizɔdənzu] | èпизодăэнзy | episode |
иэ | [iə] | [jə] | [jənsazɐ] | иэнсазă | valuable |
оэ | [ɔə] | [wə] | [gwədənzu] | гоэдэнзy | |
ÿэ | [yə] | [ʏə] | [kreaʏəli] | креаÿэλи | artificial |
иа | [ia] | [ja] | [fɛdɛrat͡sjaʔənzu] | фèдèрациаэнзy | federation |
work in progress |